


the things that bind us

by mror



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, adora is a security guard, catra is a photographer, this one isnt sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 07:35:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20254516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mror/pseuds/mror
Summary: Catra breaks into an abandoned asylum hoping to explore and get some good pictures. Adora is a security guard tasked with preventing such break-ins. Catra gets them both trapped in the basement.





	the things that bind us

**Author's Note:**

> i was really not expecting to start and finish this entire fic between the hours of 1 and 3 in the morning. please excuse any mistakes as i have not proofread it.

Something about forgotten buildings has always intrigued Catra. The broken windows. Vines growing into rooms. Nature reclaiming itself. She's always wanted to explore and photograph this place in particular - the abandoned asylum in her hometown. The first building is mammoth, all cold concrete and cinder blocks. Whoever designed the place put no thought into making it look welcoming or accommodating. That much is clear even after decades of decay. Catra sneaks in through a hole where a door used to be, flicks on her flashlight, and begins snapping pictures. 

Dust and debris cover the floor. The ceiling is falling in. Entire light panels threaten to collapse on top of her. She nearly steps on a nail and is thankful that she decided to wear boots. Marks of teenagers cover the walls, dumb graffiti, but Catra has to appreciate it. Had she visited with her friends in high school she would have done the same. Some of the messages, spray painted across peeling paint, are haunting. Others are just vulgar. She photographs them all. 

She's half tempted to pick up an abandoned can of spray paint and leave her own mark on the place, but knowing its history, she decides to respect the walls and let the building fall apart on its own accord. 

The first room holds an rusted bed frame. There's a large hole where the window had fallen in, or been smashed, and shards of thick glass coat the floor. Late afternoon sunlight bounces off early autumn leaves just outside and makes for a great picture. The building is large but most rooms are the same, so after fifteen minutes of looking around, Catra decides to take a look at another part of the asylum. 

She leaves carefully and pauses to listen for patrol cars, then books it across the cracking pavement into what was once the main administration building. 

"Dammit," she mutters as an engine sputters to life nearby. She slips in and hopes for the best, but the vehicle stops right outside.

"Hey!" a woman yells. Catra rolls her eyes and looks for an exit. The basement will have to do. It's pitch black, but she's always been good at seeing in the dark. She uses her flashlight to guide her down the staircase but turns it off once she reaches the bottom and enters a small room. 

"You can't be in here!" the guard yells from the first floor. Catra slows her breathing and tries to take in her surroundings. She backs up slowly and suddenly hits something metal. The sound reverberates. 

"Shit," she brings her hand to her mouth when she realizes she's in the morgue and had just run into a gurney. So much for night vision.

Footsteps hurry down the basement stairs and a bright light shines in her face. 

"Come with me!"

"Fuck that," Catra mutters. She spins on her heels and runs out the other way, through another door and down the hall. She clicks her flashlight back on and uses the bouncing light to guide her. 

"Get back here!" 

The guard, whoever she is, sounds more annoyed than genuinely angry. 

Whatever, Catra thinks. Patrolling an abandoned asylum has to be boring as hell. At least she's spicing up the girl's day. Her camera, which hangs around her neck by the strap, bounces against her stomach as she runs. It's enough to distract her from the filing cabinet on the floor, which she promptly trips over and twists her ankle. 

She struggles back to her feet, noting with a smirk that her fall wasn't nearly enough for the guard to catch up to her. It hurts like hell though, so once she rounds the next corner, she limps into the first room she can find and turns off her flashlight. With a quiet sigh, Catra leans against the wall and lets herself slide to the ground, as dirty and disgusting as it is. 

"Seriously?" the guard groans as she gets closer. "Just come out and I'll take you back to your car. I'm not going to arrest you."

Catra rolls her eyes again. Yeah, sure. 

That stupid military grade high beam fucking flashlight that the guard is using illuminates the entire hall. Catra flattens herself against the wall as much as she can to avoid being seen.

"I'm not going to leave until I find you. There is no way out of here besides the way we came in," the guard calls again. Catra doesn't reply. 

"You're really an asshole if you're going to make me search every single room."

Catra is going to make her search every single room.

But shit, now that the adrenaline has worn off, her ankle hurts. Like hell. She reaches down and touches it tenderly. This is not how the day was supposed to go. All she wanted were a few good pictures for her upcoming Abandoned in Etheria series. It's not like she was sneaking in to do drugs or destroy the place any further. Her train of thought is interrupted by a sickening creak from down the hall, then a crash.

Yeah, this is _really _not how the day was supposed to go.

The guard, who was getting close to the room Catra is sitting in, runs back towards the stairs.

Then there's a lot of cursing. Catra still wants some pictures, but she doesn't exactly plan on making this woman's day any harder either. Whatever the noise was, it didn't sound good. So she pulls herself to her feet and stumbles back in the direction she came from. 

"What the hell was that?" she asks. The guard turns toward her. She's taller than Catra, just barely, in black cargo pants and matching security jacket. Her blonde hair is pulled into a ponytail and a few loose strands have fallen to frame her face. She looks exasperated. Catra's damn sure she wouldn't have given this woman such a hard time had she known how attractive she is. 

"That," she starts, pointing her flashlight at where the stairs are supposed to be, "was the ceiling falling in."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

Catra reaches up to rub at the back of her neck. A nervous tic. "We'll just clear the debris away."

The guard presses her fingers against the bridge of her nose in irritation. "If the stairs are still standing, then yeah."

"Can't you like... radio for help? Or something?"

"No, I can't! I left my radio. In. The. Truck."

Catra reaches into her pocket for her cell. "I can call?"

"Don't call yet," she says quickly. "This is my first shift alone. I'll be fired if my supervisors find out I didn't catch you before you came in. Then fired again for leaving my radio behind. Oh, god. I really need this job."

Knowing this is entirely her fault, Catra puts her phone back and hobbles over to where the ceiling caved in. "Okay, no problem. All we have to do is move the..."

She trails off when she looks a little closer at the wreckage and realizes that it took a few of the stairs with it. Even if they managed to clear everything away, it would be impossible to just walk out. 

"Are you sure this is the only exit?" she asks quietly.

"I fucking hope not."

Catra sighs. "Clearly we are going to be here for a little while. I'm Catra." She extends a hand. The guard reluctantly takes it.

"Adora."

"Okay, Adora. Don't worry. This seems like a big basement. I'm sure there's another way out, or at the very least, something to climb up on."

"I have five hours before my shift changes at ten. And you," Adora gestures at her with the flashlight, (in)advertently blinding Catra. "are going to do the heavy lifting."

"Yeah, fine," Catra agrees. She takes a step forward to look at the rubble again, cringing as she puts weight on her right foot. Adora's steely expression immediately changes. 

"Are you okay?" she asks, voice softening. 

Too embarrassed to admit to completely tripping over a filing cabinet, Catra shrugs. "Must have landed wrong when I was... uh... running."

"Want me to look at it?"

Catra does. It feels like it's beginning to swell up, which doesn't feel particularly good when you're wearing work boots. 

"Nah, it'll be fine. Let's look around."

Adora nods and Catra leads the way, heading back down the hall in the direction she'd originally been running. This time she makes sure to step over the filing cabinet. 

"Watch out for that. Sneaks up on you," she advises.

"Yeah, I think I can see the giant fucking metal cabinet that's blocking half the hallway."

Catra blushes in embarrassment. Clearly Adora is still a little mad at her. 

Their conversation, or lack thereof, is interrupted by a rustling up ahead. Catra and Adora both stop quickly.

"What the hell are you doing? Get your gun out!" Catra whisper-yells.

"I don't have a fucking gun!" 

"What kind of security guard doesn't ha-"

Adora grabs Catra's shoulder and squeezes tightly as her flashlight beam falls across a small figure in the middle of the hallway.

"A rat."

Catra breathes a sigh of relief but Adora doesn't seem to be comforted.

"If there isn't an exit in this direction I swear to God I am going to have you arrested."

"What do you mean have me arrested? You can't do that yourself?"

"Well technically I can, but I'm just a security guard. I'd rather not."

"You'd rather not?"

"No I - can we just keep moving?"

She releases her grip from Catra's shoulder and sneaks past the rat, clearly shaken by the encounter. Catra rolls her eyes for a third time. Like there wouldn't be rats in the basement of an abandoned building. Seriously, what did she expect? She stops and takes a flash photo of the rat, which is sitting on a piece of newspaper minding its own business.

"So do you have like... a taser or something?" 

Adora glares at her. "I have a pocket knife."

"A pocket knife?"

"In case of emergency."

"Would you call this an emergency?"

"YES, I would call it an emergency! I am going to get fired!" Adora groans.

"So really then, what good is a pocket knife in an emergency?"

Through gritted teeth, Adora replies. "You'll find out."

"Is that a threat?"

"Take it as you will."

"Damn, tough crowd," Catra mumbles.

"You didn't make a joke."

It's just Catra's luck that it's a complete dead end. No stairs. No cellar door leading outside. She's sure it's gotta be some violation of fire code to not have a second exit. Adora doesn't say a word as they turn back around, walk past the rat again, and try the other direction.

Catra attempts to ease the awkwardness. "When did you decide to be a security guard?"

"I didn't."

"Well you are one, so clearly you did..."

"I did not want to be a security guard. Then I found out you actually have to earn money to live. Can we keep moving?"

Catra does keep moving, but she's fallen behind Adora. Her ankle is raging. 

"Can you give me a minute?" she asks, and Adora turns and sees that she's ten feet ahead of Catra. 

"Let me look at your foot."

Catra sits down, unties her laces, and struggles to pull the boot off. Adora ends up having to help. She kneels in front of her and takes her foot into her lap.

"Shit, it's really swollen. I think I'm gonna have to cut it off."

Adora pulls out her pocket knife and flicks it open. Catra's eyes widen. 

"I - What the hell? My foot?"

Adora nods solemnly. "Yeah. Your foot. I told you this comes in handy."

Catra yanks her leg out of Adora's grip. "Don't even joke about that." Adora laughs. 

"Asshole."

Adora pulls the laces out of Catra's right boot, loosens it as much as she can, and hands it back to Catra. 

"You can't walk around here barefoot."

Catra puts it back on and stands up, gingerly testing her ankle. 

"Lean on me if you need to."

"I'll be fine."

"Suit yourself," Adora says, then continues to lead them past the stairs and down to the other end of the hallway. 

"That might be our way out." Catra nods at an empty elevator shaft as they pass by.

"Yeah, I hope not."

Catra points her flashlight at the wall in front of them. Another dead end. "Unfortunately, it looks like I'm right."

"We could always move that filing cabinet you tripped over to the stairs."

"How did you know -"

"It was loud."

Catra rolls her eyes for the fourth time that day and shines her flashlight up the elevator shaft. The elevator itself is stuck on the second floor. There are a few thick cables hanging down into the basement.

"In the mood for a climb?" Catra asks.

"Not particularly."

"Filing cabinet it is."

They head back to where the ceiling caved in. 

"Stay here and try to clear some of the debris. I'll see what I can do about moving the filing cabinet," Adora orders.

"Yes sir," Catra agrees. Adora hums in annoyance and walks back down the hall. Catra gets to picking up the large pieces of plaster that had fallen, pulling them out of the way so that the cabinet could be moved into position. There's a grating sound from down the hall. Metal against concrete.

A few minutes later, Adora returns panting and empty handed to break the news. 

"Yeah, we're gonna die down here,"

"I literally have my phone."

"I'll get fired!" 

"Hmm... let me think... losing your job," Catra extends her hand in front of her. "or dying." She moves her other hand to indicate weighing the two options. 

"Guess I'll just die," Adora says dramatically. 

"Dumbass," Catra groans. She limps down the hallway. "Are you coming or not?"

Adora and Catra together manage to push the cabinet down towards the stairs. Getting it upright is another struggle. 

"What the hell is in here? Rocks? Dumbbells?" Catra groans as she squats down and tries to pick it up. She pulls open each drawer but they're empty. The cabinet just weights a million pounds for no reason. Even with Adora's help, it's fruitless. "That's it, I'm calling the fucking police. The fire department. I don't care who I have to call-"

"Catra!"

"You wanna climb up the elevator cables?"

Adora considers it. "I mean... either way we're dying."

"We're not dying."

Adora thinks for a moment before replying. "You're going first."

Catra pretends to be hurt. "This is how you treat someone who has been wounded in battle?"

"You're overreacting. It's a twisted ankle."

"You're overreacting! If you'd let me call..."

Adora's voice, which had been teasing, is void of humor when she replies. "No, seriously Catra. I need this job." 

"Okay, okay, fine. I'll go first."

Adora walks while Catra hobbles back to the elevator shaft. Catra reaches in, grabs a cable, and pulls down, testing its strength and hoping it doesn't bring the elevator crashing back down into the basement. 

"Safe enough," she declares, then steps in and begins to climb up. She's so thankful for the (few) hours she'd spent in the gym. She gets halfway up then calls down to Adora.

"Wait until I'm on the first floor and I'll pull you in, okay?" 

"Yeah, fine," Adora agrees. 

It's a tense minute but Catra manages to reach the opening and hop out onto solid ground. Thank god. Her ankle is killing her but at least she's alive. 

"Your turn!" 

Just as Adora is about to test the cable again, there's a horrible groan and the elevator slides down from the second floor and crashes into the basement. So much for that. 

"Shit! Are you okay?" Catra yells. This would only happen to her. For more than thirty years that elevator stayed in the same place. Catra knows it did fell just to spite her.

Her voice is muffled, but Adora replies. "Meet me by the stairs!"

Catra walks over to where she'd originally entered the basement. It's about a ten foot drop from where the stairs collapsed, and Adora stares up at her expectantly. 

"Pull me up?"

"Yeah, whatever."

Catra sets her camera down beside her and lays on her stomach, hoping that the roof will give her a break and not fall in any further. She reaches her right arm down and holds the door frame with her left. Adora grabs her hand.

Here is where her workouts failed her. Pure adrenaline is barely enough for her to bring Adora up. Luckily, once Adora gets a grip on the ground, she is able to help. It ends with them sitting on the dirty first floor of the asylum's administration building. Catra's arm burns and her ankle hurts more than ever. They take a moment to catch their breath.

"There are medical supplies back at the guard shack. I'll drive us over."

"That's good, 'cause I sure as hell can't walk that far."

Now it's Adora's turn to roll her eyes. She stands up and pulls Catra to her feet. "Hope you at least got some pictures out of this," she says, looking at the camera on the ground.

"Yeah, yeah. I would've gotten away with it if it weren't for a certain meddling security guard. Now hold still."

Catra picks up her camera and snaps a few photos of Adora, including of her turning around and leaving. 

"Hey! Wait up!" 

She follows Adora out of the building and into sweet, sweet light. The sun is setting and Catra estimates that the whole ordeal must have lasted a little over an hour. She gets some pictures of the outside of the crumbling building against the sky as Adora starts the truck. 

"Get in." Adora calls from the driver's seat. 

"Hey," Catra opens the door and slides into the passenger side. "Do you think we could do this again?"

"Get trapped in the basement of an asbestos-ridden abandoned asylum?" 

"Well maybe not the asbestos part, but yeah." 

Adora narrows her eyes but the blush that gently spreads across her cheeks is unmistakable. 

"Maybe."

"That's good enough for me."


End file.
